Strawberry summer magic story; thanks Nikki McClure

By some stroke of magic this year my son did not notice that our strawberries were ripe until his last day of pre-school.  On the way home we were talking about how it’s summer now.  Meaning, no more school.

When we pulled into the driveway my son jumped out of the car and ran toward our garden.

I said, “Buddy where are you going?” And without stopping he yelled something about needing to check the strawberries.

Then he came running back to me.  And with giant delight he reported, “Mom! It really is summer! The strawberries are ready!”  His tone was that utter wonder of childhood.  The kind you wish you could bottle to pour on yourself later in cynical or pessimistic moments.  The kind that oozes in every way, “Life IS magical!”

If you know this beautiful book, “Mama, is it summer yet?” by the talented paper cut artist Nikki McClure, you know exactly where he got the idea about strawberries and summer.  In the book, strawberries equal summer.  And by my standards, I think that’s just about right.

We have the kind of strawberry patch that produces more than one family of four could eat in a sitting, more than a family of four could eat in 5-10 sittings actually.
It’s perfectly lovely in every way.  There’s plenty to share and eat to your palate’s content.

Picking and eating are pretty much a daily operation around these parts right now. Strawberries warm from the sun and straight off the vine, strawberries frozen (my son’s current favorite), strawberries in bubbly water (I like!).  We’re all red around here.

This year I learned something new from my husband: you can eat the tops.  I never did before– in fact I’ve trained the kids to take them off.  But he says the tops are brimming with good nutrition, and if you pop the whole berry in your mouth at once, (as I am wont to do) the top doesn’t bother you at all.  I lay them out on a baking sheet and freeze them like in the pic below and then we keep them in giant jars in the freezer for smoothies all year long (or as long as they last).

And we’ve got lots of satisfied customers. Two of which are pictured in this post.

Love,

Aimée

Aimée Cartier is an author and psychic.  She specializes in helping her clients discover their next best steps in life.  (More about her psychic work can be found on her website.) And if you come to her garden, she’ll feed you strawberries– with the tops on. 🙂